


Santa's Helper

by DabblesinDrabbles



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 17:19:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9195845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DabblesinDrabbles/pseuds/DabblesinDrabbles
Summary: Babe volunteers to dress as an elf and be Santa Clause's assistant at the Toccoa Hospital children's ward but is there more to the soft spoken Doc Roe then meets the eye?





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second fic for the BOB fandom and I hope it isn't too awful, I originally had an "Easy Company works as Mall Santa" idea but it became this instead...somehow :D
> 
> This is not intended to portray the real life men but instead the characters portrayed in the HBO mini series "Band of Brothers"
> 
> I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing so feel free to leave ay advice or just how you feel in the comments, thanks!

            Babe Heffron let go of a long suffering sigh as he pulled the elf hat over his ears, the bells on top twinkling with joy. If anyone had told him that he would be spending the weeks leading up to Christmas volunteering to dress as an elf all day he would’ve accused them of being drunk. Yet here he was standing under the bright fluorescent lights of Toccoa Hospital waiting for whichever doctor was going to be dressed as Santa Clause. He had been hired only a few weeks ago to work in the ER as an LPN so when Dick Winters, the director of the hospital, had warmly asked if he’d be willing to participate in the hospital’s annual holiday tradition there was no way Babe would have said no to the man who already gave the impression of a warm Father figure. The other ER nurses namely Bill, Luz, Malarkey, and Skip Muck had taken at least a hundred pictures of him in his elf costume, promising to post them throughout the ER Waiting Room to give their patients a laugh year round, Babe planned to steal their phones between shifts to get rid of their evidence.

            Babe continued to tap his foot impatiently, ignoring the jingles that came from the toe of the elf costume boots, until he heard a low and deeply accented voice grab his attention, “Sorry for keepin’ you, but I’m assuming you’re working as my elf helper today?” Babe looked up, a smile ready for the he assumed elderly doctor who would be his partner in holiday joy today when his mouth ran dry, the man who should’ve looked ridiculous in the red and white trimmed suit before him was absolutely beautiful. Babe took the man in, he was an inch or two shorter than Babe with pale skin that looked like it had never seen the Sun, coal dark hair, dark eyes, and an eyebrow lifted in concern. Babe quickly shook himself from his shock and stuck his hand out to the doctor to shake, “Yupp, that’s me! The name is Babe Heffron, new hire I work in the ER.” The doctor, his concerned eyebrow tamed, smiled and shook the red head’s hand his voice dark and rich like coffee, “Babe? Now that can’t be your real name, unless they do it a lot differently up North. I’m Eugene Roe, not a new hire but I work in the children’s ward.” Babe felt his face heat up, quick to defend his city of Philly, “Well my real name is Edward but nobody except the nuns and my Ma calls me that. Yeah Philly is a lot different than Toccoa, how did you guess I was from up North?” Roe chuckled lightly, his laugh warming Babe all the way to his toes, “Edward, you don’t exactly sound like a local but don’t worry I’m from the bayous of Louisiana so I’m not local either.”

            Before Babe could respond the soothing tones of Dick Winters interrupted their conversation, “Glad to see you two have met already, Gene thank you again for putting on that scratchy old suit but the kids always say when Santa visits they feel better, I don’t know how you do it but you soothe them.” Babe smiled and looked as Roe ducked his head in humble embarrassment, he thought he heard Row mumble a thanks but he couldn’t be sure. Winters left them mentioning something about checking on Dr. Nixon in the Oncology department and telling them to have a good time with the kids. The two stood in silence in the hallway until Roe finally looked up at Babe and smiled softly, “Well Edward, let me just pull on my red cap and beard then we can head into the ward.” Even under the white beard and wig Babe thought Eugene Roe was one of the most handsome men he had ever seen in his life.

            Any hatred Babe had towards his elf costume evaporated once he and Eugene stepped into the children’s ward, the kids squeals of excitement and the light in their eyes made even the most ridiculous of jingling bells worth it. The nurses in the ward, especially a pretty blonde nurse, smiled fondly at Eugene under all of his costuming and ushered the kids into their private rooms so they could prepare to meet Santa Clause. As Babe and Roe entered the first room, a little nametag on the door proclaiming it belonged to "Lucas the Dragon Slayer", Babe felt the air shift; as if the light had become more golden and for some reason he thought it had something to do with the man currently speaking in soft tones to little Lucas about what he wanted for Christmas. As Roe stroked the little boy’s curls Babe could’ve sworn he saw the boy relax in a way that he hadn’t looked before they walked in, he seemed to be less pale and without the tremors from before the accompanied his condition. The feeling that Babe was missing something left as Roe turned to talk to his elf helper, asking Babe to pull out his “Nice List” and write Lucas’ name on it.

            It went like this as the two made their way to each individual kid in the children’s ward, some more sickly than others but all so excited to see Santa Clause and his elf assistant. One particularly bold little girl had made Babe come to her bedside and let her watch as he wrote her name on the “Nice List” to ensure Santa knew exactly who she was. If Babe didn’t have a crush on Doc Roe before he certainly had one now as he watched how attentive and kind he was to every single child. He listened intently to everything they had to say to him, he laughed warmly, and stroked all of their foreheads before leaving. Every time it seemed to Babe that when Roe touched their foreheads, like with Lucas in the first room, the kids would seem more relaxed and more at ease. As they approached the last room in the ward Roe stopped before they walked in, his eyes that had been so warm the entire afternoon suddenly grew very serious and the concerned eyebrow raise appeared, “Now Edward, this last patient is one of our most aggressive cases of leukemia. She is one of the more difficult patients for our nurses and even doctors to talk to sometimes because they are so upset by her condition, so I wouldn’t blame you if you only wanted to send me in this time.” Babe looked closer into Doc Roe’s dark eyes, he was blown away not only by the concern that lay within them but also the sudden appearance of dark rings of exhaustion, had the doctor’s eyes looked like that when they met for the first time in the hallway? Before Roe could take his silence as a sign that he didn’t want to come in Babe smiled and patted the doctor’s shoulder, “Eugene, I think I can handle it besides what is Santa Clause without his trusty elf advisor?” Roe’s eyes softened at Babe’s genuine answer and his smile grew wide, “You got me there Edward.” Babe took in a deep breath as they opened the door whose name-tag read "Arielle the Princess of Toccoa Hospital."

            Arielle’s room had the lights dimmer than the other children’s rooms but it was filled wall to wall with the color pink. It truly looked like a room fit for a little princess had it not been for the beeping equipment and various tubes connected to the little girl in the bed. Babe’s eyes began to water against his will, the little girl in the bed looked delicate enough that a gust of wind could have blown her away. Her little face popped up from where she had been reading and she smiled wide and called, “Papa Noël!” For a moment Babe was terrified, he hadn’t elected to take French in high school choosing instead to take German with Liebgott and Webster, but he relaxed as Roe spoke to the girl in French. Babe mentally added bilingualism to the long list of reasons he was falling in love with Dr. Eugene Roe when he heard Arielle’s little voice call to him from the hospital bed, “I’m sorry Mr. Elf, that was rude of me to not speak in English to you but I wanted to show Santa Clause the French that Doc Roe has been teaching me!” Babe smiled at the little girl and saw Roe’s eyes get misty behind his Santa Clause disguise, “Well Arielle,” Babe said warmly as he moved closer to the girl’s bed, “I’m sure Doc Roe would be proud that you’re using what he taught you.”

            If Roe and Babe stayed with Arielle a little longer then they had the other kids no one could blame them, the little girl’s joy was contagious but as the conversations went on she slowly became exhausted, fighting sleep just to get one more word in to Santa Clause and the elf she decided must be named Ginger because of his hair. Finally Roe decided it was time for them to take their leave, Babe made sure to write Arielle’s name on his “Nice List” with a flourish and moved towards the door after receiving his hug. He watched as Roe stroked the few remaining russet curls from the little girl’s forehead, murmuring softly to her in French but this time as Babe watched he saw a flash of golden makes it way into Roe’s eyes. It was not the same vague feeling he had when he watched Eugene touch the other children’s’ foreheads, this time he was sure he had seen the doctor’s eyes glow but just as quickly as it had come it was gone and they were leaving the little princess’ hospital room.

            Babe waited a week or so before trying to talk to anyone about what he had witnessed with Doc Roe’s golden glowing eyes. He wanted to be sure of what he saw before he talked to anyone but whenever he tried to rationally explain it away he could feel somewhere deep inside that he had actually seen the good doctor’s eyes change. As he gained more friends throughout the hospital, Doc Roe included, he realized the one person who worked close enough with Eugene that he could ask would be the pretty blonde nurse from the children’s ward; Renée. Babe waited until he was sure Eugene was not working, a difficult task since it seemed Eugene was always working unless forced by Winters to take a day off, and brought a coffee to the nurses’ station hoping to bribe the nurse into the conversation he wanted to have. Renée seemed unsurprised when Babe asked to talk to her and offered her the coffee, she had a knowing glint to her eye that reminded Babe too much of Eugene.

            “So, Babe” she began her voice warm, her French accent heavy, “I was wondering when you would come to ask about Gene.” Babe felt his ears turn pink, so he hadn’t been the only person to notice Eugene’s golden glowing powers, why hadn’t anyone said anything? Before he could respond Renée chuckled warmly and winked at the red haired man in front of her, “Oh don’t worry Babe, there is nothing between Gene and I, but even if there was he is over the moon for you, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.” If Babe’s ears were pink before he was sure they were fire engine red now as he sputtered to find his words, Renée continued to smirk as she took sips from her coffee and waited for the flustered nurse to speak. Finally Babe choked out, “Renée, I mean I’m happy that you two aren’t anything because yeah I do like Doc but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about, but we definitely need to come back to him being over the moon for me later.” Renée’s eyes suddenly grew very serious and she placed her coffee down on the table, “Babe, if you weren’t here to ask about Gene’s relationship status then what do you want to talk to me about?” Babe gathered his courage and launched in to his description of what he had seen Eugene do a week ago. At the end of his story he waited and waited until finally Renée took a long sip from her coffee and mumbled under her breath, “Merde that stupid man!”

            Babe had spent enough time with Eugene to recognize that Renée had just sworn in French and while any other time he would’ve found it charming he was much more concerned with her tone. Renée rubbed at her temples and looked to Babe with concern in her eyes, “When you saw this golden glow as you called it happen did Gene seem different afterwards?” Babe thought back and remembered the dark rings of exhaustion that had appeared suddenly, as well as the shaking Eugene developed as they moved room to room after telling this to Renée she rubbed her temples and sighed, “Yes then it is as I thought,” she looked at Babe’s confused face and seemed to make a decision, “How much has Gene told you about his family in Louisiana?” By the end of their talk Renée’s coffee had grown cold and Babe had made a decision, he needed to talk to Eugene and he needed to do it soon.

            Babe waited until he knew Eugene’s rounds were finished at least for his first shift before seeking him out. He found him in the doctor’s sleeping quarters provided by the hospital, Eugene was laying on one of the cots within the room and he glanced up when he heard Babe open the door. Babe sat on a cot next to Eugene and gathered his courage before deciding to just be blunt, “So Gene, does Winters know you’re a traiteur?” In any other situation Babe would’ve been proud that he had managed to shock the always cool under pressure Dr. Roe but instead he felt less brave as Eugene tensed on the cot and didn’t respond for a minute. Finally Eugene drew in a deep breath and turned his eyes towards Babe, exhaustion obvious in the dark circles beneath them, “Edward, do I want to know how you learned the name of Cajun healers? Yes, Dick knows about my abilities but he doesn’t know how often I use them.” Babe couldn’t resist as he grabbed Eugene’s hand and began to rub soothing circles on to the doctor’s hand with his thumb, “Gene, I want to understand tell me about what you can do, what I saw you do that day with the kids?” He waits patiently as Eugene’s soft voice tells him about the practice of faith healing and the talents of his Grandmére Selene that had passed through the Roe family and the effects his healing takes on his body. As Eugene’s accent becomes thicker as he talks about his home in Louisiana, Babe feels himself falling more and more for the stupidly unselfish doctor with the healing hands.

            After Eugene finished speaking the two men sat in the quiet room in silence, both deep in their thoughts, Roe biting his lip waiting for the negative reaction he knows is coming and Babe trying to find the words he wants to tell the doctor. Finally after what feels like an eternity Babe leans over to be closer to the doctor’s face, he waits until Eugene looks him straight in the eyes before he softly says, “Well, Doc if you’re going to be taking the pain from everyone else, you’re going to need someone to take the pain from you.” Eugene stares at the red headed man in disbelief, he had been expecting so many other reactions but understanding and wanting to help was not one of them, he could only smile and lift his head to rest their foreheads together, “It would be an honor to have you assist…Babe.” Babe snorts unexpectedly and pulls away a little bit to catch his breath, Eugene sits up from the cot and waits until the LPN is no longer in hysteric laughter, a fond smile playing on his lips as Babe says between laughs, “Gene..you called me Babe!” As Roe closes the gap between them he smirks, “Yeah, I guess I did.” Babe will never complain about embarrassing elf costumes ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi to me on Tumblr! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sandsoftatooine


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